Container

ABSTRACT

A shipping container in the form of one or more separate enclosures releasably supported in assembled relation by a unitizing frame adapted for containerized shipping techniques, each enclosure having an access opening closeable by a door in hermetically sealed relation, and incorporating shock absorbent legs and interior tiedown members for cargo protection.

United States Patent 51 Mar. 28, 1972 Barry et al.

[ CONTAINER [72] Inventors: Daniel J. Barry, 3321 Mt. McKinley Drive,San Jose, Calif. 95127; James J. McNeill, 2650 California Street,Mountain View, Calif. 94040 [22] Filed: July 7, 1969 [21] Appl. No.:839,559

[52] 11.8. C1 ..220/1.5, 220/69', 248/350, 220/4 [51 lnt. Cl ..B65d87/00 [58] Field 01 Search ..220/l.5, 12, 23.4, 55 B, 69, 220/84, 8;217/53, 12 R, 43; 206/46 M, 46 FR; 248/350 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,336,896 4/1920 Driver et a1 .220/1.5 1,757,518 5/1930Ehmer ..220/69 X 1,879,756 9/1932 Kuchta 220/12 UX 2,457,842 1/1949Smith et a1. ..220/l.5 2,556,413 6/1951 Del Mar 220/l.5 X 2,556,6316/1951 Pool ..'..220/12 X 2,568,518 9/1951 Smith ..220/55 B UX 2,756,693.7/1956 Frost ..280/179.1 X

Johnson ..220/1.5

2,972,430 2/1961 3,268,199 8/1966 Kordyban et al... .....220/69 X3,386,600 6/1968 Betjemann..... ....220/l.5 X 332,376 12/1885 Barton..217/43 1,633,354 '6/1927 Rau ..217/43 2,628,737 2/1953 Zeni ..217/12FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 684,826 4/1964 Canada ..220/ 1.51,441,816 5/1966 France ....220/1.5 190,482 6/1923 Great Britain..220/55 B 47,288 12/1929 Norway ..217/12 316,450 10/1969 Sweden ..220/8Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-James R. GarrettAnorney-Paul B. F ihe [5 7] ABSTRACT A shipping container in the form ofone or more separate enclosures releasably supported in assembledrelation by a unitizing frame adapted for containerized shippingtechniques, each enclosure having an access opening closeable by a doorin hermetically sealed relation, and incorporating shock absorbent legsand interior tiedown members for cargo protection.

' 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures P'ATENTEU m 28 I972 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR.DANIEL J. BARRY JAMES J. MCNEIL; BY

PATENT AGENT PATENTEDHAM I9 2 8,651 .974

' SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR. DANIEL J. BARRY JAMES J. MCNEILL PATENT AG NTCONTAINER The present invention relates generally to containerizedshipping and, more particularly, to containers reuseable for theshipping of various cargoes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For protective purposes, wooden boxes orcontainers of rather large size are commonly utilized to house variousfragile items during shipping by truck, train, or ship. These woodencontainers are, of course, subject to fire damage and are normallyair-pervious so that moisture damage to the contents may result.Additionally, all of the exterior container is subject to direct contactand consequent direct physical damage, and the physical shockencountered during handling of the container is frequently transmittedthrough the relatively rigid container so as to effect, for example,breakage of glass or similar shock damage to other contents. Finally,although such wooden containers are considered as reuseable, theiruseful life is very limited for the housing of items to be shipped and,as a practical matter, some repairs are required after each trip and thetotal useful life normally runs no more 7 than three trips or shippingcycles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a general objective of thepresent invention to provide a container for the shipping of variouscargoes designed to provide high resistance tofire damage, moisture orother weather damage, and shock damage to the container contents andwhich, furthermore, is capable of withstanding normal shipping orhandling techniques without intervening maintenance for 25 trips orcycles of shipping so that its useful life is substantially extendedbeyond that of present containers. To achieve this objective, the entirecontainer embodying the present invention is preferably formed by one ormore cargo enclosures which are held in assembled relation by aunitizing frame. Each individual enclosure is formed by an openrectangular frame of steel which is covered on all sides but one bywalls formed of reinforced fiberglass or other material leaving anaccess opening across one side over which an access door can beremovably secured. The enclosing fiberglass or other material is,itself, impervious to air, and the door, when appropriately disposedover the access opening is arranged to establish sealing engagementtherewith so that the entire interior of the enclosure is free from thedamaging effect of air, moisture or other environmental factors. Thematerial chosen for the entire enclosure, whether it be steel,fiberglass, or other material, is preferably fire-resistant as well asweather-proof and also takes into account the particular usage of theenclosure so that its maintenance and useful life are extended.

Since the enclosures may be reused and various items may be housedtherein for shipping purposes, tiedown members are preferably secured tothe metallic frame elements on the interior of the enclosure to enablethe connection of cords thereto and the passage of such cords around thecontents to hold the same in a secure position therewithin thus topreclude accidental motion during handling or shipping. Any shocks tothe enclosure itself, do not effect motion of the contents and, inaccordance with the general desirability of mitigating any shockdelivered to the enclosure contents, for example, when such contents arefragile, shock absorbent members are incorporated in the enclosureitself. More particularly, the supporting legs of the enclosure arepreferably in the form of shock absorbers so that if the enclosure isroughly placed on a supporting surface, the shock of such placement isabsorbed and thus not transmitted to the container contents.

The mentioned legs on the enclosure, in addition to functioning as shockabsorbers, are positioned to facilitate container handling either by theutilization of a fork lift or a sling support, for example of the typeused commonly in the transfer of a container into the hold of a ship.More particularly, the legs are slightly spaced from the sides of theenclosure to facilitate placement of the sling thereover without liftingthereof. The leg position is also correlated with the position ofindexing recesses on the top of an individual enclosure so that theenclosures can be stacked one upon another.

In view of all the design criteria incorporated in each individualenclosure summarized hereinabove, the useful life of the enclosure isincreased tenfold although its total weight may well be less thanexistent wooden containers.

While the individual enclosures can be handled separately, as indicated,a complete shipping container embodying the present invention preferablyincludes the mentioned unitizing frame which consists of an openrectangular frame of rather heavy metal frame members of telescopictubular form so that the entire frame can be expanded to enableinsertion of one or more individual enclosures therewithin whereupon aframe retraction enables close supporting encompassment of theenclosures. Thus, depending upon the cargo, one large compartment or anumber of small shipping compartments can be provided in the unitizedstructure.

The unitizing frame is provided with suitable means for holding it inits retracted enclosure-supporting position and, in turn, can bereleasably joined to the individual enclosures to preclude shifting ofthe latter. In addition, the frame is formed with sockets at its comersto enable ease of handling by standard containerized shipping apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing objective and summary ofthe invention will be more readily understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of the structure shown in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container including several enclosuresheld within a unitizing frame in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken alongline 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating details of the frame-enclosureengagement,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a single enclosure, portions of its sidebeing broken away to illustrate interior details and also to indicatethe support of a refrigerator therewithin, as indicated in phantomlines,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken alongline 4-4 of FIG. 3 indicating the releasable connection of a door overthe access opening of the enclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Withparticular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 the illustrated embodiment of theinvention includes one or more enclosures 10, each of which has an openrectangular frame 1 1 formed by the bolted or welded juncture of angleiron sections so that the overall configuration is that of a rectangularparallelepiped of appropriate dimensions. The dimensions of theillustrated structure will be approximately 6.5 feet long by 8 feet highby 4 feet wide, but obvious variations in such dimensions, dependingupon the particular use of the container, will fall within the generalscope of the invention.

On five sides of the rectangular parallelepiped frame 11, sealed walls12 are arranged to cover its bottom, top and three sides, preferablybeing formed by panels of integrated reinforced fiberglass material. Asshown, the reinforcement is achieved by plywood sheets but otherwell-known fabricating techniques can be employed. The sixth side of theenclosure 10 is left open to provide an access opening for loading orunloading of contents into the enclosures 10. As shown in phantom linesin FIG. 3, a refrigerator R is supported within the enclosure but thecontents can be of any nature. Around the edge of the access opening, arubber gasket 14 is mounted and is arranged to establish hermeticsealing engagement with the perimeter of a door 16 also which is formedby a rectangular metallic frame with a reinforced fiberglass panelmolded thereover. A number of threaded sockets 18 are provided in theenclosure 10 around the access opening for the screwed around thecontents of the enclosure, such as the illustrated refrigerator R, so asto maintain the latter in a fixed immovatherewithin and anotherintermediate size having dimensions of 6.5 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet inwhich case three enclosures could be accommodated. Thus, theunitizingframe 40 is well adapted for the accommodation of enclosures of varioussizes to, in turn, accommodatevarious cargoes.

In more detail, the unitizing frame 0 conslsts of rectangular framemembers 42 on all sides, each of which is adjustable in its length sothat the frame can be opened to enable placement of the enclosures l0therewithin and can subsequently be retracted to provide closeencompassing engagement with the enclosures. Preferably, as illustrated,each of the expansible ble position within the enclosure during handlingand shipping. These same eyelets 24 canbe utilized to support a springsuspension structure (not shown) for very fragile equipment such as aglass member or a piece of complex and fragile electronic equipment,thus to provide a spring suspension of the general type currentlyutilized for the support'of nitroglycerine or other explosives within atruck.

Four legs 28 project downwardly from the bottom of the enclosure atslightly inwardly spaced positions from the corners of the bottom so asto distribute theweight of the enclosure 10 and its contents evenly whenthe container is resting. Since the legs 28 are spaced inwardly from thecomers of the enclosure 10, a standard sling may be placed underopposite ends of the enclosure to enable lifting of the container, thusto facilitate such form of transport. In addition, the spacing betweenthe legs 28 permits ready insertion of the tines of a.

standard fork lift under the bottom of the enclosure to facilitate localtransport thereof.

' Preferably, each of the legs 28 takes the form of a shock absorber, asbest shown in FIG. 2, and accordingly includes an upper tubular member30 with inturned flange portions 31, said member being secured to theunder surface of the bottom panel of the enclosure 10 and arranged forthe telescopic reception of a lower leg member 32 having an annularflange 34. Molded rubber 37 is secured within the upper and lowertelescoping members 30, 32, to substantially fill their interiors andprovide resilient shock absorbing contact with the flange 34.Accordingly, when the enclosure 10 is set down, for example, by a forklift, any shock in such activity is absorbed primarily by the legs 28and is thus not transmitted either to the enclosure itself, or itscontents. Additionally, any motion during transport on a train, ship, ortruck is absorbed by such legs 28 to mitigate the shock effects on theenclosure contents.

To facilitate stacking of the described enclosures, recesses 36 areformed at all four corners on the top of the enclosure 10 so that thelegs 28 of a superimposed enclosure can be received and confined withinsuch recesses 36 to preclude accidental lateral shifting of the stackedenclosures while, at the same time, providing no transmission of shocktherebetween. The legs 28 are sufficiently long so that the bottom of anupper enclosure 10 is spaced from the top of the lower enclosure in astack, thus to permit insertion of the tines of a fork lift orapplication of a lifting sling to the upper enclosure 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, six of the described enclosures 10, each having thementioned dimensions of 6.5 feet by 8 feet by 4 feet can be accommodatedin a unitizing frame 40 of open rectangular configuration whose overalldimensions are approximately feet long by '8 feet high by 8 feet wide,although as shown in FIG. 1, a lesser number of enclosures 10 can beaccommodated so that, for example, two enclosures can be removed fromthe encompassing unitizing frame 40 leaving four held therewithin forfurther shipment. As will be obvious, this same unitizing frame havingoverall dimensions of approximately 20 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet can alsoaccommodate a single larger enclosure having approximately thosedimensions and other standard sizes such as 10 feet by 8 feet by 8 feetin which case two enclosures would be accommodated frame members 42 iscomposed of a number of telescopic flattened tubular sections which areheld in telescopically adjusted relationship by the insertion of smallholding pins 44 through a single hole in an outer tubular section and aselected threaded holebrought into registry therewith in an interiortubular section, as best shown in FIG. 1. A resilient pad 46 on theundersurface of the largest tubular sections at the top of the unitizingframe 40 is arranged to frictionally engage the top of an individualenclosure 10 when the frame is retracted, as best shown in FIG. 2 thusto provide a holding means for the enclosure, and this functionalconnection together with the shock absorbent legs 28 serves to hold theenclosures 10 within the frame 40 but to mitigate transfer of shocktherebetween.

The eight corners of the adjustable unitizing frame 40 are provided withstandard sockets or recesses 48 which adapt themselves for engagement bystandard crane hooks commonly employed for the movement of cargo bycontainerized shipping methods. Since such recesses 48 are of standardconfiguration in the field, no further details need be described andobviously other connecting members can be utilized if differentcontainer handling apparatus is to be employed.

In use, it will be obvious that the unitizing frame 40 will be expandedprior to insertion of one or more enclosures l0 therewithin, theexpansion being sufficient so that the enclosure can be lowered by useof a sling through the opened upper portion of the open rectangularframe or can be placed therewithin through the expanded side openings byuse of a standard fork lift. After the enclosures 10 have beenappropriately placed in position, the unitizing frame 40 is thenretracted to bring the frame members into close encompassingrelationship with the enclosures and the pins 44 are then inserted tohold the retracted elements of the unitizing frame in tight engagementwith the sides of the enclosures. The mere reversal of this processallows simple removal of the enclosures.

During shipment, the exterior unitizing frame 40 absorbs substantiallyall exterior direct contact thus protecting the enclosures 10 and theircontents and the latter through their shock-absorbent legs 28 andresilient pads 46, and the tiedown apparatus on their interiorsprecludes damage by direct contact or by transmitted shock to theenclosures or their contents. Thus the entire container structure,whether it include one or more enclosures is very flexible in itsutilization, has a relatively long useful life, and most significantly,provides maximum protection to the cargo.

What is claimed is:

1. A container which comprises,

an enclosure having an access opening,

a door arranged to close said opening and establish sealing engagementwith the edges thereof, and

a plurality of legs supporting said enclosure,

each of said legs being shock absorbent and including a larger tubularmember arranged for telescopic reception of a smaller member, both ofsaid members having intumed flange portions between which resilientmaterial is disposed to resiliently resist relative motion of saidmembers.

* i 4K 4K

1. A container which comprises, an enclosure having an access opening, adoor arranged to close said opening and establish sealing engagementwith the edges thereof, and a plurality of legs supporting saidenclosure, each of said legs being shock absorbent and including alarger tubular member arranged for telescopic reception of a smallermember, both of said members having inturned flange portions betweenwhich resilient material is disposed to resiliently resist relativemotion of said members.